Electric vehicles battery swapping types, advantages & disadvantages
EV charging infrastructure is something that everyone is looking for be it manufacturers, EV owners or customers or someone who is planning to buy. Although the currently available EV charging infrastructure is not sufficient to fulfil the government goal to become an EV hub by 2030. Therefore many EV manufacturers and the government is taking the initiative to install EV charging stations so that we will have more and more charging stations in India that encourage the adoption of electric vehicles. Read further to know more about Electric vehicles battery swapping.
Electric vehicles battery swapping
Many manufacturers are also looking for the alternative for charging stations such as battery swapping. It is the best alternative to recharge your battery without wasting time waiting for the EV to charge. With the battery swapping options, the depleted EV battery can be removed from the vehicle and replaced with a fully charged one within few seconds.
The technology is being tried out for various EV segments, including e-2Ws, e-3Ws, e-cars and even e-buses.
Types of EV battery swapping
According to the EV charging infrastructure handbook which was released by the NITI Aayog, a think tank of the Government of India, there are two types of EV battery swapping as Manual and Autonomous.
Manual
The manual battery-swapping station is in which the batteries are placed and removed manually from the individual slots, usually by hand. The Manual swapping stations are manual swapping stations that are modular and occupy a minimal amount of space. These are used for 2W and 3W battery applications, as the battery pack sizes are smaller and the weight can be handled by one or two persons.
Autonomous
In Autonomous, the robotic arm is used the battery swapping process being semi/fully automated. Robotic swapping is used for 4W and e-bus applications as battery packs are larger and heavier and require mechanical assistance. This kind of swap station needs more space and will cost more than the manual ones.
But it seems to take years and years but there is a positive point that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has allowed the sale and registration of EVs without batteries, which provides a huge boost to battery swapping solutions. At present, battery swapping is considered a feasible solution for commercial EV fleets, especially for the electric two-wheelers and electric three-wheelers segments.
Let us now look what are the challenges, advantages and disadvantages/barriers of battery swapping
Advantages
- Charges battery in few minutes
- Batteries can be charged away from the swapping point, allowing more freedom in setting up swap facilities
- Reduction in the upfront cost of EV, as battery ownership is replaced by battery leasing
- Increased predictability of battery life due to controlled charging conditions
Barriers
- Lack of standardization among EV batteries unsuitable battery pack design to enable ease of swapping
(weight, dimensions and ergonomics) - Greater number of batteries needed to power the same number of EVs
- The shorter commercial life of battery packs due to customer preference for new batteries with a higher range
- Slow adoption of charging method by OEMs
- Higher costs of battery leasing over the life of the EV
- Higher GST on separate battery (18%) vs battery sold with EV (5%)
Efforts to set up battery swapp stations
HOP Electric Mobility launches battery charging & Swapp stations
Hop Electric Mobility has launched an integrated network of battery charging-cum-swapping stations which will be used by its users to charge a Hop electric scooter at home or swap a fully charged battery when outside in less than 30 seconds. The Hop Energy Network is a part of their initiative for the customers to reduce their range anxiety.
Earlier, the company had implemented a pilot network with five swapping stations and 50 batteries in Jaipur. In just six months, over 2,000 batteries have been swapped, adding 1,40,000+ clean km.
Hero MotoCorp partners Taiwan’s Gogoro to develop EV & battery swap stations
World’s leading two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp has announced a partnership with a battery-swapping platform Gogoro. With this partnership, HeroCorp will launch electric vehicles using Gogoro’s technology. The Taiwanese electric two-wheeler maker Gogoro aims to increase the shift to sustainable electric mobility in India. The Hero branded electric vehicles will be powered by the Gogoro Network vehicles.
Tata Power DDL & Sun Mobility partners to set up Li-ion battery-swapping station
The Tata Power Delhi Distribution (DDL) a joint venture of Tata Power and the Delhi government and Sun Mobility a charging infrastructure provider for electric vehicles had announced their partnership to set up lithium-ion battery swapping stations in Delhi NCR.
There are continuous initiatives taken by the central government to promote the growth of lithium-ion battery swapping technology to increases the adoption of electric vehicles in India. The first swapping station with two Quick Interchange Stations has been launched in the Azadpur area.
IOC battery swapping facility for EVs launched
The State-run fossil fuel giant Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (Indian Oil) has launched a battery swapping facility for electric vehicles (EVs) at its petrol pumps. In battery swapping technology the batteries can be fully charged in less than 2 minutes.
The company commenced this as the pilot project at one of its outlets in Chandigarh and scale it up to 20 stations said the company chairman Sanjiv Singh. The battery swapping technology is the best way to save time and helps the owners and the fleet operators and drivers to make use of the operational hours.
This battery swapping model is initially targeted at commercial vehicles such as electric autos, rickshaws and electric two-wheelers and EVs that are either factory fitted or retrofitted.
EVI signed MoU with BSNL to set up EV charging/swap stations
A New Delhi based electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure startup EVI Technologies made an announcement that it has signed an MoU for ten years with the telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to install battery swapping and EV charging stations in five thousand locations of BSNL which will cover the major cities, state and national highways in India.
The partnership will install over 100 battery swapping and public chargers at each location. The first charging station launch is planned for February 2020 in Maharashtra and Haryana.
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